What's the difference???

[JacobsBuell]

I'm just curious if anyone has noticed a performance difference (whether more get up and go / better fuel milage / or just a smoother idle) in the different types of octanes. My owners manual recommends the use of 91 octane. Which I find funny seeing that you can only get 87, 89, 93 octane at any typical gas station. Since I've had my 08 'bolt, I've only used 93 octane figuring it's better to go over than leave it wanting. I only average 39-43 mpg constantly. I've been curious to try 89 to see what the benefits might be. I'm curious if anyone else has thought or tried this before. Thanks.

 

[jerseymayhem]

think it says 91 or better cause its cleaner, and the fuel system on these bikes are delicate, the injectors can get clogged from cheap fuel and that could cause serious hazardous riding.
think of it this way, you pull onto the highway in front of a semi and its going 65 and you crack the throttle and nothing happens......
I use premium here in Jersey(i believe its 93) and i get over 50mpg i fill up every time right around 135 miles, and that's when my light comes on, that's 2.7 gallons used, at exactly 50 mpgs.
So unless you are really romping on it, you may have a problem. I typically do pretty heavy stop and go, with unsafe starts and stops with long bursts of highway speed at typical 80-100 mph stretches. And i rev alot at stops cause i got a hawk and it gives me a chubby.
Ive never used a different octane cause jersey gas is already crappy, lot of ethanol. been looking for places i can get higher octane to mix in to see if that gives me better throttle response. My dad always said, DON'T PUT CHEAP GAS IN ANYTHING! I use premium in all my vehicles, only thing that gets regular is my mower.

 

[upthemaiden]

I always use 91-93 and consistently get 50-51mph on my xb9. Much better than I assumed it would be when I bought it.

 

[Miami78]

Just put about 3.5 gallons in this morning, had 167 on the trip meter. That's right around 48mpg on my '09 12Ss. All we have here in Vegas is 91, haven't seen 93 for a long time...

 

[JacobsBuell]

Man. Why am I getting such ****** gas mileage? How about rpms? Where do people ride around at for rpms on a 12? I usually keep it at 2,500 rpm but riding my buddy's 9Ss its happy at about 3,000 rpm. I must be doing something wrong to be getting the fuel light at 110 miles and filling up with 2.8 gallons.

 

[Macbuell]

Mine comes on at 110 miles. I usually fill up around 120ish and it takes 2.8-3.1 gals. Welcome to my world Jacob

 

[Breto]

I never look at the milage,but in aust.we get 98 octane gas at justabout every station,my 1125r only gets filled with that. And its loves it.

 

[auslad]

Yep my 12R only gets 98 octane with race kit ie:muffler/race ecm and K&N filter.....goes well

 

[agfish18]

I always use at least 91 octane... most stations around here offer at least 91 if not 93. Occasionally I will put in some octane booster/ fuel addititve.

and yes, My bike stays noticeably cooler with the octane booster, and seems to run better overall with at least 91. I ran 90 in it one time and it ran like ass.